The tension had built to this point, and everyone knew a battle was inevitable.
Everyone took out their Pokémon at the same time. In an instant, more than a dozen flashes of blue light appeared, and Pokémon materialized beside them.
First came the Team Rocket Trio. Jessie and James could be said to have sent out every Pokémon they had in reserve, but they had relatively few Pokémon. Even counting Meowth and Wobbuffet, there were only six.
By contrast, Erika, Misty, and Brock also carried few Pokémon, since they were not traveling to train. Although Erika had caught some new Grass-type Pokémon during this time, none were capable of fighting yet.
Besides, she was still holding the unconscious Celebi and could not free her hands to join the battle.
Now, the pressure fell entirely on Misty and Brock.
Still, against the Team Rocket Trio, the two former Gym Leaders held the advantage in both numbers and quality. Barring any surprises, they should have more than enough strength to deal with these losers.
That was not to say the Team Rocket Trio had no chance of winning. After all, they did have some strength, and as the ones trying to steal, they had no reservations about attacking. Not to mention, they could pull out some bizarre invention at any moment!
Overall, Misty and Brock had the better chance of winning, but they still needed to stay on guard.
The real problem was Vicious.
It was not that Vicious's Pokémon were particularly powerful, but that he had Dark Balls that could forcibly capture other people's Pokémon and make them stronger and more evil!
Back in the Dragon's Sacred Land, Vicious had used a Dark Ball to control Lance's Dragonite, causing them a great deal of trouble.
"Be careful," Xia You warned Ash.